Not long after scoring his first goal for Ajax’s second team, Sergino Dest has joined the team officially.
The U.S. Under-20 National Team defender signed a two-year contract with the Dutch giants on Monday, his first professionally. Dest will be under contract from January 2019 to June 2021.
“I’m very happy with this contract”, said Dest. “On to great things! I want to play as many games as possible with the Ajax Reserves, and become a steady asset. And I hope to make my debut in Ajax 1 this season.”
He made his debut with the reserves back in October and has since made five appearances, scoring one goal. Dest joined the Ajax youth academy in 2012 and has been playing there since.
Dest will now join the Ajax U-19’s where he has tallied three goals in 14 matches.
Dest is fresh from an impressive showing with the U.S. Under-20s during their run to the Concacaf Championship title in November.
We could see Dest with USMNT in March although U20 WC team will likely be having a warm up camp. If he makes the Ajax first team it could actually hurt his availability for the U20 WC.
I think this is a great place to start. Ajax is always in the top 3 in their league, usually first or second and they play in the CL with great regularity., often reaching the knockout rounds. And Holland is a great spot for developing young talent. If he does well, in a few years he could be moving to one of the top 5 leagues.
I guess this means he has signed a 1st team contract. This is good news though a bit confusing since he was already there and this seems like a good progression even if he is still with the U-19’s.
You see it with MLS Academy players as well when they join the MLS club. I think the sentence about joining the U19s is a misstatement, he’s been playing with the U23s or Jong Ajax in the 2nd tier of Dutch football over the last month joining U19s would be a demotion.